Sanzaro, LaRossa, Rizzo, DiPietro

[NSanzaro]

Hi! I am new to this & looking for some direction.

I am trying to trace my family history back to Italy, Sortino in Siracusa specifically. The family history is a little hard to follow in places as my grandparents travelled to Asmara in Africa before migrating to Australia. I have got as far as their migration records into Australia, but have no other information.

I am after any information on the following people:

Gaetano Sanzaro (my Nonno) born in Sortino (i believe) on 11th September 1912.

Gaetano had 3 siblings, Grazia Sanzaro, Concetta Sanzaro & Vittorio Sanzaro. Vittorio also ended up in Australia, but I have been told Grazia & Concetta stayed somewhere in Siracusa...

Gaetano's father was Concetto Sanzaro, and mother Maria Santo. No idea on birth dates or places.

Cesarea Sanzaro (my Nonna) born in Sortino also, her maiden name was Rizzo. Cesarea was born 16th October 1917 to her mother who was also called Cesarea or Cesarina (maiden name LaRosa) & her father Santo Rizzo. Cesarea's mother died of Cholera around 1920 when she was 3 or 4 & she was raised by her Aunt Maria LaRosa. I beleive Maria LaRosa moved in with Santo Rizzo but am unsure of the nature of that relationship as Maria LaRosa went on to have a son Sebastiano DiPietro to an unknown man but maybe never married?

Cesarea & Gaetano were married in Sortino (though i have no record of that either) & soon after had a son called Concetto (who also migrated to Australia & is now in his 70's).

I beleive Gaetano was conscripted to the army, but somehow eneded up in Asmara in Africa. he was there working as a bootmaker in the army for 14 years before he was joined by Cesarea. When they met again in Asmara they had my father Roberto Sanzaro. The three of them came to Australia in 1952 on board the Toscana which they boarded from Aden in Yemen i believe.

Does anyone have any information on any of these people? So far i have immigration documents to Australia for Cesarea & Gaetano & that's all.

Would really appreciate some help. Thanks!

[Bette]

Hi,
I have no information on your family members, however, if you are looking for direction, there are several things you could do. You could write to the town for copies of records. You could do the research yourself, at a Mormon Family History Library. According to their web site, there are several in Australia (if that is where you are). You could write to some families in these towns. I presume you have already interviewed the oldest living relatives. Knowing the name of the town is essential, since all records are kept at the town level.

The Mormon Family History Library has microfilmed the Civil Registration records (births, marriages, deaths) for the town of Sortino, Siracusa, for the period 1820 - 1929. Here is their web site:

http://www.familysearch.org

To find addresses of possible relatives in Sortino, you could look at the Italian White Pages telephone directory on-line:

http://www.paginebianche.it

To know more about writing letters in Italian, you could look at this web site:

http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/pearlsofwi ... tters.html

Good luck,
Bette

[NSanzaro]

Thanks All for your assistance. I found LOTS of information through a local in Siracusa that goes back to my great Grandfather.

[orazio60]

Ho letto per caso questo messaggio in internet, chi scrive è un tuo diretto parente, mi chiamo Magnano Orazio e porto il nome Orazio che fù di mio nonno, marito di Concetta sorella di tuo nonno Gaetano. Io ho conosciuto negli anni settanta tuo nonno perchè è venuto in vacanza qui in Sicilia insieme a tua nonna, tuo zio Concetto la moglie Sandra e mi ricordo una bambina a nome Susanna. Da quel momento, ogni tanto arrivavano notizie solo telefoniche, ma a seguito della morte della nonna prima, di zia Graziella avvenuta a Siracusa e poi di tuo nonno Gaetano, le notizie si sono perse. Attualmente a Sortino vivono due cugini di tuo padre, mio papà che si chiama Concetto, mia zia Nunzia, mio zio Sebastiano pultroppo è deceduto negli anni 90. Mio padre mi parla spesso di tuo padre Roberto, suo cugino di primo grado, cugino che non ha mai conosciuto per le vicissitudini che tu ben sai. Potrei stare qui a scrivere per ore, ma penso comunque che sia meglio scriverci via i mail a tal proposito il mio indirizzo è oraziomagnano@alice.it, spero di avere vostre notizie al più presto. Anchè perchè mio padre vuole sapere di suo cugino Roberto. Ciao ORAZIO